| "The Ex Files" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gossip Girl episode | |||
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| Episodeno. | Season 2 Episode 04 | ||
| Directed by | Jim McKay | ||
| Written by | Robby Hull | ||
| Production code | 204 | ||
| Original air date | September 22, 2008 (2008-09-22) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Gossip Girlseason 2 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"The Ex Files" is the 22nd episode of theCWtelevision series,Gossip Girl.[1] It was also the fourth episode of the show's second season. The episode was written by Robby Hull and directed byJim McKay. It originally aired on Monday, September 22, 2008 on theCW.
Dan meets a new girl named Amanda on the first day back to school. Blair and her clique look for new "projects" and "victims" and decide to go after the new girl whilst ignoring Jenny. Serena is upset that Dan has rebounded so quickly and Blair makes it worse by interfering. Dan asks Amanda on a date at Serena's favorite restaurant and she decides to tag along. Dan and Amanda bond over literature leaving Serena as a third wheel. Eventually, Serena and Dan decide it's better for them to just keep their distance. Blair's clique bullies Amanda by puttingNair in her hair and Dan blames Serena; she decides to start living up to her old reputation. Nate's mistress Catherine agreed to pay the Captain's restitution rather than blackmail him but Vanessa unwittingly thwarted Blair's plan. Chuck hired Amanda to pretend to like Dan in order to take down Blair asQueen B of Constance-Billard. Dan has become a social pariah because of how he treated "Queen" Serena.
The episode received generally favorable reviews from critics. Most of the critics praisedBlake Lively's performances in this episode. Isabelle Carreau, fromTV Squad, continued to compare Serena and Dan's relationship to Rachel and Ross fromFriends and also said that "Blake Lively delivered it with the right amount of attitude and bitchiness" in her final lines in the episode.[2] Jennifer Sankowski, fromTV Guide, had said that she was surprised to see that Amanda was working for Chuck all time long, and that the reason why she loves the show is because of the many twists between the episodes.[3] Michelle Graham, fromFilm School Rejects, had said that "overall, this episode really kick started the season, with Chuck’s manipulations felt right the way through, but his hand mostly unseen until the end".[4]
Nevertheless, Carlos Delgado ofIf Magazine gave the episode a negative rating of D+ and said that the show "is poised to take bad television to a whole new level".[5]
